Category Archives: Caprica

The credit for this find goes to the folks over at io9, but I just had to share. This chart breaks down the twisted and sometimes confusing history of the Battlestar Galactica universe into one handy chart. This also includes information from the Caprica pilot. Maybe there will be a refresh to reflect some of the changes that came around in that series.

Take a look and see if it clears up any confusion for you. Its a big picture so click to see if full size.

Well folks, we’ve known its coming for a while but tonight Syfy is going to finish airing the new episodes of Caprica. These shows have already aired in Canada on the Space Channel. I believe that the show is already out on DVD as well but I need to confirm that.

I did a pretty good job avoiding spoilers on these final episodes until yesterday. I wasn’t paying attention and missed a spoiler tag in an article I was reading. Luckily, the spoilers I inadvertently read have just got me more excited about tonights 5 episode marathon. As much as I loathe supporting the current Syfy channel tune in tonight starting at 6:00 PM EST and see how everything ends on Caprica. Hopefully they are able to wrap up a lot of the plot, but I’m guessing there will be things left unresolved. Or I guess you could buy the DVDs, but personally I’m cheap so I’ll watch them on TV.

Last week it was announced Stargate Universe was being cancelled. After moving to Tuesday, and being paired with the recently cancelled Caprica, its rating were in rough shape. Notice that the show was being cancelled was not sent out via a press release or notice on Syfy’s web-site, instead the news was sent out via Twitter. This was the first anyone had heard that the show was being cancelled. This includes the cast of Stargate Universe. Needless to say this news took a lot of people by surprise, but mostly the cast and crew of Stargate Universe.

The fact that this was the only notice the show was being cancelled was fairly disrespectful to the cast, crew and fan. Stargate fans are vocal to say the least. They would have fought to keep the show on the air but the cancellation was done in a way that fans could easily be ignored. After all how hard is it to ignore messages on Twitter?

My concern for SGU is, will they be able to finish the storyline that has been started. SGU just took its midseason break and the next 1/2 season, which has already been filmed, will serve as the finale for the show. Since they had not been given notice the show was being cancelled I doubt the storyline has been finished. We, the loyal fans, are probably going to be left with no resolution to the storyline of Stargate Universe.

So, how do we resolve the story of SGU if there are no more episodes to be filmed. It would be ideal if Syfy would give the show an extra few episodes or a TV movie to wrap up the storyline. Do I think thats likely to happen? No, I don’t. Remember Syfy promised there would be additional Stargate Atlantis movies that would continue the story and presumably get Atlantis back to the Pegasus Galaxy. Even if Syfy promised an SGU movie to wrap things up I’m not sure I would believe it based on the track record.

The cancellation of both Caprica and SGU can probably be linked to one thing. The, now, Syfy channel is moving away from its core fan-base. It wasn’t too long ago when there was a SciFi Friday with a solid block of shows. That was back in the day when Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica were on the air. On Friday nights there was a 3 hour block of awesome SciFi shows. Now what’s on Friday nights? Anyone want to take a guess? Syfy’s Friday night lineup consists of WWE Smackdown? How does this appeal to your core fan-base that made your channel a success? Simply put, it doesn’t.

Needless to say I’m a little miffed with Syfy Channel right now. Back in its heyday the channel had lots of shows that I wanted to watch, and reruns of shows I had never seen before. SciFi Channel introduced me to Firefly, a show I had mistakenly missed out on when it first aired. Now the channel cancels quality SciFi shows to make room for professional wrestling and terrible B-Movies.

There’s really nothing I watch on Syfy now except for the occasional rerun of Stargate and new episodes of Stargate Universe. I plan to watch the final episodes of Caprica and Stargate Universe but then I’m going to be taking a break. I have great hope for the upcoming BSG mini-series Blood and Chrome. I really want to watch it and hope that its successful and turns into another series. However, if it becomes a series and struggles I don’t have faith in Syfy giving it a chance to recover. Their history shows it. Personally I think that Syfy got spoiled by the success and critical acclaim that came with Battlestar Galactica. It’s very tough for shows to live in the shadow of such a successful show and so far nothing has lived up to the success of BSG.

Hopefully I’m wrong and BSG: Blood and Chrome succeeds. I really hope I’m also wrong and Syfy gives the fans a chance to see how Stargate Universe should truly end. The fans don’t deserve to be left hanging. There’s only so much abuse the fans will be willing to take when it comes to unresolved stories. Caprica is going to be left unresolved and more than likely Stargate Universe will be too. Eventually fans of the Science Fiction genre will stop coming back to Syfy and in order for the channel to succeed they will have to move further away from its fan-base in turn losing them. Its my fear that in the end Syfy channel will turn into a poor man’s SpikeTV loaded with pro-wrestling and Ghost Hunters. That’s not a channel I want to watch and I’m sure there are many fans with me.

As many of you are aware the SciFi Syfy channel recently cancelled the critically acclaimed but ratings poor Caprica. I was a self admitted fan of Caprica, in face I really enjoyed the BSG prequel. Caprica was very different from BSG which is probably what hurt it in the long run. At this point the reason why the show failed is a moot point though.

There has recently been a fan movement to try to save the show and convince Syfy executives to save the show and give it a chance for one more season. There is also a hope that another network such as AMC, HBO, or Starz might pick up the show and continue it. I don’t see it happening, but there is a part of me that really wants to see the show continue. At the very least I want to see how the story ends and leads in to Battlestar Galactica. William Adama was my favorite character in BSG and I for one would love to see how he becomes the powerful leader that saves the remnants of humanity.

Far be it for me to tell anyone what to do, but if you want to get involved and try to save a quality show like Caprica there are a few things you can do. Dawn at Battlestar Cafe is spearheading the effort to save the show. Drop over to her site and help contribute to her letter to the executives at Syfy channel. Make sure you voice is heard and share your opinion about Caprica. Another thing to do would join the Twitter campaign to save Caprica. There are numerous posts with the hashtag #SaveCaprica, again courtesy of Dawn.

Many fans are taking a page from the Save Jericho efforts only instead of sending in peanuts they are sending apples to the Syfy offices. Why apples you might be asking? Simply put, apples featured heavily in Syfy’s original advertising campaign for Caprica. Another tactic to make your voice heard is to reach out directly to Syfy and NBC Universal Executives. Some POCs are listed below for your use.

If you choose to get involved in the efforts to save Caprica there are a variety of ways to do so all of which require varying amounts of time. However the simplest thing is to tweet #SaveCaprica. Twitter has become a unique venue for having your voice be heard, but I encourage you to use any or all methods to give your opinion to Syfy Channel. There are some other great ideas available at Battlestar Cafe in addition to a large number of Save Caprica banners like the one I have posted below.

All but the most optimistic fans had to realize that Caprica was in danger this season, especially with the low ratings that steadily declined. The show was more of a drama set in the BSG world than a continuation of what we had seen in BSG. It took me a while to get into it, but when I did I really started to enjoy the show. It had a smart plot that I found intriguing. The only problem is that it built up so slowly.

Imagine my surprise today when I checked my Twitter feed and saw a new update from Bear McCreary the composer for both Battlestar Galactica and Caprica.

From what Bear is saying it looks like Caprica has indeed been cancelled. Syfy executives were set to make a decision by November 15 as to whether the series would continue. Since ratings have drastically fallen off it would seem the execs made their decision earlier than expected. All I’ve seen so far is news from Bear McCreary, but he’s probably in a position to know better than most. Hopefully the last 6 episodes are able to tie things up enough to close out the bulk of the plot. I would hate to have a lot of loose ends when the series ends. Lets also hope that Bear gets to do the score for BSG: Blood and Chrome too. I can’t imagine a BSG without his music.

When I find out more, I’ll let you know. Until then lets get ready for the end of Caprica.

Update: Looks like the cancellation is official. TV Guide is reporting that Caprica has been cancelled and will not receive a second season. In fact Syfy is pulling the remaining episodes from the schedule. Syfy is going to air the remaining five episodes of Caprica in early 2011. Basically this is going to screw this show of any chance of pulling anything out. That and it really annoys me that halfway through this current run we have to wait for resolution. Its not a good way to reward the loyal fans that tuned in each week to see what was happening on Caprica. Thanks Syfy what are you going to do next to reward your viewers?

This could be bad news for Caprica, but it hit the web last week that the SciFi Syfy Channel has greenlit another prequel to the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica. TVSquad’s Maureen Ryan broke the news that Syfy will air the 2 hour tv-movie Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome in late 2011 or early 2012. This movie will focus on a young William “Husker” Adama as a Viper pilot in the first cylon war. According the the news I’ve seen so far ‘Blood & Chrome,’ takes place roughly 20 years after the events of Caprica and about 40 years before the end of the worlds depicted in BSG. On a sidenote, I’d just like to say I called this back in March 2009 and asked online for the SciFi Syfy Channel to please take this idea and run with it. Now they are doing so… not that I’m taking credit or anything.

Some other interesting news is that the movie will take place on the Grand Old Lady herself, the Galactica. Now I am truly excited; Galactica is back and Adama is back. Seems like good news to me. The movie will take place during the 10th year of the Cylon War and follows Ensign William Adama as he undertakes a mission that could change the tide of the war. See? This is good stuff!

Mark Stern is Syfy’s executive vice president of original programming and gave some news on the potential timeline of the series being filmed. He said the network hoped to begin production on the pilot in Vancouver in early 2011. This maps up quite nicely for a late 2011 or early 2012 release. Stern gave a lot more information that I am going to quote directly so I can get everything across:

“This is very much an action-adventure, war series,” Stern said. “This is definitely dealing with people who are fighting the fight. … As you hope ‘Battlestar’ would do, it kind of comments on that process a little bit… but not in a preachy way, not in an issues-oriented way, not in a hitting-you-over-the-head way. Really, the fabric and the canvas of the series are people in the fight and what they grapple with when it comes to each other and what they grapple with when it comes to the enemy they’re fighting.”

“Your way into the story is a young William Adama who is not the grizzled old veteran we have come to love in ‘BSG,'” Stern noted. “This is someone who is more like us, in terms of coming into this with certain preconceptions and learning as you go. … It’s very much about relationships along the way. I think ultimately the arc of the pilot and of the series is about getting Adama to be who you came to know in ‘BSG,’ but it’s also about the deep relationships he forms. And I don’t think there are any deeper relationships than the ones you form in life-or-death situations.”

The interesting thing is Syfy originally intended to show Blood and Chrome as an online series, but they liked the outline so much that have turned it into a TV movie with the intent of using it as a backdoor pilot. Meaning, that if the movie gets good rating we might just get a new BSG prequel on TV. This is actually the same process that was used for BSG back in 2003 and turned out successful so keep your fingers crossed.

I can tell you that I am 100% sold on this new prequel, however that might be mostly because I’m such a huge Battlestar Galactica fan. This is what I had originally hoped to see as a prequel to BSG and I think it has a better chance of capturing audience interest than Caprica. I still enjoy Caprica but it’s very plot-driven and slowly developing. That’s fine for me but many fans need something they can get interested in that keeps grabbing their attention. A war time series should do that. Hopefully Caprica can chug along and be paired with the new BSG in the future. However, it seems things might be looking a little grim for Caprica right now. It’s not bringing in a lot of new viewers.

It’s a mixed bag of news for Battlestar Galactica fans right. Lets start with the good news for all the fans out there. SciFi Channel is supposedly considering doing another spinoff of the hit TV show. I tend to think this might actually happen when the SciFi Wire blog reports it. Since the blog is run by the SciFi Channel they probably have a fairly good idea of what may or may not happen. Mark Stern, VP of development was quoted as saying:

“We’re looking for other ways to spin-off ‘Battlestar’ beyond ‘Caprica,’” he said. “That world is so rich. We’re sitting down with (executive producer) Ron Moore and his team. It would not necessarily be a traditional series.”

That’s some hope right? Well we have some more news on the potential spin-off. Ron Moore, the brains behind the rebooted BSG, seemed to be a bit reserved when it came to the possible spin off.

As for that other potential BSG-related project, Moore insisted it was “really nothing yet.” Syfy approached him and producing partner David Eick, and it’s still early stages. “[They] said, ‘We have this concept for a format in which to do a show. Would you be interested?'” Moore recalled. “We kind of said, ‘Yeah, that’s interesting. What would it be?’ And we had some conversations about what the parameters of the show would be. We’re really at the very beginning of that whole process, so there’s really nothing definitive yet, but we are sort of talking back and forth about what it might be. It’d be in this [BSG/Caprica] universe.”

Personally I think this is pretty promising to create another series. I’ve really become a convert to Caprica and have thoroughly enjoyed the show so far. But, if we could get a new space drama similar to the BSG I love so much I’d be ecstatic. Here’s my idea of what it might be for the spin-off… the first Cylon War. We’ve already gotten the flashbacks in Razor but this would be a chance to fully see how the war progressed. Additionally we might get some really good character development when it comes to showing how William Adama and Saul Tigh become such great friends. If anyone from SciFi channel is listening, please take this idea! Just think, we have the BSG shows that showcase the birth of the Cylons, the rise to power of the Cylons, and then the fall of the human race. It’s quite the trilogy that’s put together there!

Here’s the downside to all this news. SciFi channel still hasn’t announced whether the critically acclaimed Caprica will be renewed for a second season. I certainly hope so, but I think Caprica’s renewal is going to hinge on the ratings from here on out. Supposedly there’s a lot of big revelations coming up and that could draw in new viewers. But lets remember that this show his given new definition to the term slow burn. My only concern is that the SciFi executives might be considering this new spin-off as a Caprica replacement. We’ll keep an ear to the ground and let you know what else we can find out. Until then lets hope Caprica gets renewed and we get the spin-off.

Well folks, its official. Tonight is James Marsters’ first appearance on Caprica. And the folks over at the SciFi Syfy Channel have been nice enough to provide a preview clip. Looks like his character might be just a little bit of an extremist.

I know there’s been an absence of Caprica posts lately, and I have a simple reason for that. Up until yesterday I had only watched the premiere and the first episode. To get caught up I watched a mini-marathon. I intend to have a post on my initial thoughts on Caprica up later this week.

Until then, here’s a copy of the opening credits, to hopefully grab a few more viewers. As always, Bear McCreary has done a phenomenal job on the music. Though to be fair, I don’t think he’s ever had any bad music on either BSG or Caprica.

Just a quick first look of James Marsters on Caprica. We’d previously seen a quick glimpse of him in early trailers and now pictures are hitting the web. Marsters plays Barnabus Greely, an enigmatic and dangerous leader in the monotheist world. Maybe he was the one behind the train bombing that started everything in motion.

Don’t forget Caprica airs on Fridays on the SciFi Syfy channel. To hold you over until then we have the first picture of Barnabus Greely below.

About Me

Podcast Host

Chris is a co-host, co-founder and producer of the All Things Good And Nerdy Podcast. Also co-hosts WTWD Radio Free Woodbury, a Walking Dead Fan show, and The Official Gonna Geek.com podcast. He is also a staff writer for Gonna Geek providing updates on all things tech, gaming, comics, or pretty much anything geeky.

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